Wachovia ripoff charged NSF fees 6 times, money was in account Rome Georgia

I understand

Brandy I understand exactly what you are saying, it happened to me with a different bank. Just go in (bite your tongue) and speak with the manager go over your statement, once you have proved your point ask when should you be receiving your money back. If you do not get your money back then find out who regulates this bank, I only know about the credit union but will look it up and wait to see if you need it. DONT GET TOO UPSET AND LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT.

Customer misunderstanding- Not a rip-off.

In your terms and conditions for your account, it should state when funds from specific deposits become available to draw on. If you don't have one, stop at your nearest branch and ask for one or go the the bank's web site and find a link to it and print out a copy for yourself (you may have to dig deep to find it). It contains alot of useful information concerning your bank's policies that you should know.

Simply because the deposit is posted to your account does not mean the funds are available to draw against. Unfortunately most people seem to rely on their banks online statements to keep track of their true balance.

Using my bank as an example, if I were to make a deposit in cash using a teller (and not an ATM) the funds are available immediately.
If I were to deposit cash using an ATM the funds are available on the day the deposit is posted.

If I were to deposit a cashier's check or a government issued check, the funds are available on the day the deposit is posted to my account.

If my deposit is an EFT, it is available to draw on the day it posts to my account.

Now comes the tricky part. If my deposit is in check form, the first 100 dollars becomes available to draw against on the first business day following the day the deposit posts to my account.

Now, depending on the routing number on the check(the routing number determines if the check is considered "local" or "non-local"), the remainder of the funds becomes available to draw against either the second or third day following date the deposit is posted.

If there is expected to be a longer hold on the funds the bank should inform you.

Most banks have a similar funds availablilty policy.

Although the bank rep may have explained their policy and treated you a little better the situation with your NSF fees would have been the same regardless of which bank you had an account with.

I would suggest calling them back and asking if they would consider waiving any of the NSF charges. Some banks will do so as a courtesy but it is usually a one time thing and the customer has to ask. The worst they could do is say no and you would be in no worse a condition than you are now.

To Robert...

Amen brother. As usual, you rock!

The funds were there

Let me explain this a little better, it is not a misunderstanding. Wachovia ripped me off. On 10/4/2005 my balance was $152.00. This was what I had in my records, and this is what their website said my balance was. On 10/5/2005, a $476.00 deposit was made also, which brought my balance up to over $600.00. The rep on the phone told me I was charged the NSF fee because a $5.10 on 10/5/2005 transaction had overdrawn my account.

How is this possible? Even if the 10/5 deposit had not posted yet, I still had $152 in the bank to cover a $5.10 purchase. I called Wachovia to try to straighten this out, and the rep on the phone would not listen to me and when I told her I knew the money was there and demanded that she prove the funds were not there, she hung up.

They charged me $60 in NSF on 10/5, and I never got to ask about the other $30 NSF because the rep hung up on me before we even got that far.

AS a result of the $60 NSF, I had 4 other transactions bounce, totaling me $180 in NSF fees. My husband has direct deposit so of course this was taken from his paycheck and now we cant pay rent because of this.

Im very upset and I would not come to ripoffreport.com and take the time to fill a report unless I was absolutely certain I was ripped off. Read Wachovia's complaints on this webpage, it seems to be a habit of their's lately to do their customers wrong and dirty. We are closing the Wachovia account. They are deceitful.

Don't Call Customer Service

Go into your branch and talk with the manager. Be nice and courteous, and don't yell, just explain to them what happened, and they will go over your account with you and find the problem. They will refund some if not all of your fees. Customer service sucks, don't even bother with calling them.

You did not say that in your initial post.

As qoted from your initial post:
"Wachovia Bank charged us $60.00 in NSF fees when there was actually over $600 dollars in our account. The website showed a deposit in our account so we spent some money because the Wachovia website account summary page showed our deposit as posted. I called their 1-800 customer service line, the rep told me that even though the money was deposited it wasnt available for spending yet. The $60 NSF then caused us to have another $120 in NSF because it made several other transactions bounce." You mentioned nothing of a 152 dollar balance.

So, on 10/5 when you "spent some money" did you spend more than the 152 dollars you had available to draw on? Was the $152 a recent deposit? If so then you would overdraw your account.

If you still think you have been wronged, get a copy of your terms and conditions, a print out of your online account statement, go down to your branch that you opened your account and speak to a branch manager to plead your case.

Boycott Wachovia!!

I went into my local branch Friday morning to try to resolve this issue. I printed off the account summary from the wachovia.com website that showed my balance was not negative when they charged me the NSF fees. I also took my own personal handwritten record of my account to show them.

The lady I spoke with was baffled as to why we were charged these fees also. She agreed the printout I had clearly stated we were not negative when we were charged $60 for NSF. She said that when a customer is charged a NSF fee, it is supposed to say which specific transactions were overdrawn, and the website did not have that information.

After looking over our account for 20 minutes she didnt have a clue. So then she gets on the phone and calls someone over her head in the chain, and whoever she called started telling her the same thing the people on the customer service 1-800 line told me 2 days earlier. They said we had some transactions on hold that made us overdraw blah blah blah. Whatever. The amount of the transactions on hold had already been deducted from the account so how did they overdraw the account if they had already been deducted? This is the same scam many others on this site are complaining about. They hold transactions and post them when your balance is low so they rack up these huge NSF fees from you.

I sat there and told her very nicely, I never once got rude at all with her, that now we cannot pay our rent because of this and the only thing she could say about it is 'I know the fees are steep'. No kidding!! Thankfully we have a very nice landlord who is giving us an extension on the rent. Wachovia could not care less if their expensive fees caused me and my kids to live in the streets.

The lady told me I could come back in next week and speak to someone else if I wanted, but Im sure that will get me nowhere either. Im completely disgusted with this bank and their outrageous fees and policies.

This is absolutely ridiculous! Why in the world do people keep putting up with this ripoff?

The solution here is SO EASY.

You close any account that can generate an NSF fee. Or any fee that you never agreed to.

For the life of me, I don't understand why people ever go back and let this happen over and over again. It's not like the victims hit the lottery or something. None of them have money to burn. Yet they insist on keeping these accounts open, month after month.

And, the same thing keeps happening to them, month in and month out. For some victims, it amounts to hundreds of dollars wasted every month. The original complaint at the top said she lost $180 in this one month alone.

Can you imagine letting that kind of money go to waste every month? It amounts to thousands of dollars each year. That's like throwing away a free lunch every day of the year! All you have to do is put an end to these fees and you could sit back and eat lunch for free every day of the year. With no change in your money. All you'd be doing is trading the money you were wasting on fees for your lunch.

Here's the thing that really gets me. People keep coming here over and over and complaining about it.

I've told them the answer. Close the accounts. Checking accounts leave you wide open for demand draft fraud anyway. You'd have to be crazy to have one. Google demand draft fraud and see just how easy any crook can deduct money from your account without any signature or permission from you. And, once it happens, there's nothing you can do to stop it, or get your money back.

Remember who the customer is here. That would be you. The banks need YOU, not the other way around.

I've been paying with cash all my life. I never pay any fees. With all the extra money I have, I never have to borrow anything, so I never pay 30% interest. My life is so simple. If I want my balance, I check my wallet. Let the hackers figure out a way to remove money from that. Impossible!

Cheat you once. Shame on them. Cheat you over and over again. Steal your money month in and month out. Shame on you for putting up with it!

For Christ sake, stand up for yourself here. Don't let these damn banks walk all over you and rip you off like this and turn you into their slave each month. Before you throw away any more money to these scam banks, at least have the sense to donate it to someone who could use it. A charity. The homeless. The hurricane victims. Anybody but some crooked bank.

You know, when the world smartens up and says “no more”, maybe these banks will finally put a stop to this practice.

Utterly ridiculous how easily some people can be taken advantage of! My god!

Wachovia has charged me over $1000 in fees since August 2005

We refinanced our house in July 2005 and put a little left over into the checking account to get ahead-so we thought. Since that was deposited, Wachovia has charged and double charged me numerous fees to the sum of almost $1000 in 4 months. Prior to the deposit, we had no problem and was NEVER overdrawn. Here are a few examples of their professional customer service.

Example 1, transferred money from our saving to checking before 8pm, which should be an automatic credit. Next morning, we were -$250 because the transfer was NOT credited immediately, but in fact was credited at there magic update time of 12am-after they allowed charges to go through-making my account negative (but would not of been, had they done their job right)and they charged me fees for the overdrawn items. After arguing with them that it was in fact a bank error and that I could tell time, they gave back only half their charged fees.

Example 2, Somehow in August 2005 my debit card number was obtained by someone I did not know. They charged via the Internet $500 in air line tickets to Asian Counties. Okay I live in the US and have no plans to travel, and if I did it would cost more than the $500 charged. I made a theft repot both with Wachovia and my local law enforcement. Provided Wachovia the police report and detective information. The documents were filled out and faxed 3 times (Wachovia claimed they never received the prior 2-yeah right,I had confirmation they went through to them) AND I also mailed them to the fraud department. They credited me back to my account the $500. WELL at the end of SEPTEMBER they took the $500 back out. They stated they again never received the filled papers. Once again placing me in the negative, they returned my mortgage payment as NSF and charged $30 for NSF AND $30 overdraft fees for the same item.

AGAIN,I faxed and mailed them copies. They would only credit me the $500 back. They refused to admit that had they not taken the money back it would not of been overdrawn and it would of cleared fine. And denied the double charge on the one item. Even though its illegal to double charge fees for one item. So again another $60 out of my pocket.

THE ONLINE STATEMENT INFORMATION REPORTED BY WACHOVIA IS NEVER CORRECT AND HARDLEY UPDATED-EXCEPT AT THEIR MAGIC WHITCHING HOUR OF 12am-of which again is NEVER updated actually until sometime between 2am and 7am. Why is it they charge me fees when both the online and monthly printed statements show enough money in the posted balance for charges and even when they charge the NSF and overdraft fees are taken out. But due to their fee charges,(which I did not figure in) would then make me negative?

Recently they charged $60 each for 7 small purchases of each less than $10 a piece. Causing my account to be $420 NEGATIVE. I was informed by one branch manager that all check card hold item are not taken from the posted amount or the available amount. Well not true,so demanding them to justify the fees charged and how the check card holds are not placed on temp hold from the posted amount proved a waste of time. I was hung up on, told I can not add and every other excuse known. BUT was never given a justifiable or even straight forward answer to the question. In fact three different WACHOVIA employee supervisors avoided and would never answer me when confronted with that question. They have also refused to sit down and walk each charge through with us.

Clearly by the obvious refusal to provide answers-shows consumers that Wachovia is nothing but professional thieves. I can not close my account and go else where because when we get one step forward WACHOVIA puts us five steps back. So with all the mounds of documentation, we consulted several attorneys, The Federal Comptroller of Currency Customer Assistance Group , THE GEORGIA State Attorney General. We were advised that WACHOVIA has in fact violated the law.

I am sure that WACHOVIA will attempt to provide a defense, one should remember, if it were truly not WACHOVIAS and each charged fee is justified, then why is there so many DOCUMENTED and known filed complaints or law suits against WACHOVIA all based primarily on the same information? It does not take a genius to figure this one out...

IT HAPPENED TO ME........

Same type thing happened to me...except they lost a deposit..as for the person who said 'close the account' they will NOT let you if it is overdrwn...I have fault with Wachovia twice now...once before they were so big and then again when they bought out South trust...they are too big for themselves...and for all you 'know it alls' if you weren't there...how the hell do you know what happens????

To Daniel

It's good to see a fellow liberal hoosier on this board, but I have to side with Mr. Connecticut. My bank, Charter One, will not make funds available immediately if I deposit an actual paper check -- either personal or company. Depending on the time of day I make the depost, and the branch I make the deposit at, funds are available either the next business day (really, after 12 a.m.), or two business days from when I make the deposit.

If I deposit a paper check, then check my balance online, I'll have a "balance" and an "availablke balance." The balance will be higher than the availbale balance, but are (usually) the same the next day. I think this practice is normal for all banks, and the bottom line is that online banking is great, but if people rely on it to know their balances, they should only look at the "available balance." Personally, I keep my own records and do not rely on what the bank says my balance is for exactly this reason.

whoa...stop the press...........

"Simply because the deposit is posted to your account does not mean the funds are available to draw against." -Mr. Connecticut

Let me get this straight...if my employer transfers funds to Wachovia, and Wachovia confirms receipt of the funds, then as the payee I cannot expect to be able to access my own money - even though the funds have been verified and posted????

This is a perfect example of the neo-conservative mind at work. See, to capitalist supporters, it isn't REALLY your money...you are simply safeguarding it until they can find a way to relieve you of it - legally or otherwise.

Perhaps in Connecticut the ruling authorities look kindly on businesses swindling customers out of their hard-earned jack to appease shareholders. However, in the really, really real world where the sky is blue, when a bank has confirmation of my cash, they cannot withhold my access to it in the absence of legal activity that places a freeze on it.

I cancelled my Wachovia accounts

Robert does have a point, but not a very good one. If the balance is in the 'Available' column on your account page, then it should be available.

I have proof that Wachovia DOES hold funds purposely to either (1) - Collect interest or (2) - Collect fees by holding a deposit to after debits come in.

I have used Paypal for years. When transferring money out of Paypal and into my Wachovia account, it generally took 4+ days. Even though Paypal said the transaction was completed 3 days ago, it never would hit my account. When I had an overdraft due to a Wachovia error, I asked why didn't my pending Paypal transfer cover the transaction. They said "Paypal send a release time of 4:00AM, and this trasaction posted at 12:00 AM". I cancelled my accounts right then and there.

Now I have a credit union. I have transferred 3 Paypal transactions to my credit union. Guess what? It only takes 1 day! ONE DAY. I have the funds available by the 2nd day of the transfer. This proves that Wachovia manipulates their credits to suit their needs, not the customer's.

How To Avoid Many Overdraft Fees

Quit using your debit card for "walking around money". Anyone who makes six debit card purchases for less than $10 in one day is not managing their money well. Carry cash. Wait at least a week between making a deposit and writing checks against the deposit. Read every rule your bank has. Go to the bank, ask them for copies of each and every piece of literature that should be given to account holders. Make a list of what you are given and ask the person you deal with to sign that you have been given each piece of literature with each rule governing checking accounts. Read the literature and memorize it. If they try to throw some rule at you, ask where in the literature you were given is that rule. I use an American Express card -- the kind that you have to pay off each month.

I can analyze each transaction made before I pay the bill in one check. Sure, I pay a fee each year, but there are no interest charges racked up, and I pay much less in bank account fees. Some people live on the financial edge, and if you can discipline yourself to get a little cushion in your bank account, you won't have as much trouble with NSF fees.

No longer with Walk-All-Over-Ya - Wachovia

Thanks for the many responses everyone. Me & my husband left Wachovia after all of this mess. We are now using Bank of America and they are wonderful! I know some have had problems with Bank of America, but we've been with them for about 6 months and no complaints here! They have waived 3 overdraft fees for us, and we never even asked! They took it upon themselves to just waive the fee. How awesome is that! After I posted this, we made several phone calls to Wachovia, plus went to a branch and spoke with a manager. They refused to help us, they would not even removed a few fee's, even though we told them that we could not pay our rent due to their excessive fees. They didnt care, one bit. period. The lady in the bank even admitted our account had money in it when we were charged overdraft fees. She didnt understand it either.

Yes, they intentionally hold pending transactions & deposits, and conveniently allow them to go through when they can draw a fee. Scum bags, how do they sleep at night? They prey on people like us who live paycheck to paycheck and have very little money in the bank. Well they've taken the last of our hard earned money! All you gotta do is read this website. The problem I had is not isolated, its very common. Every single person I know personally that uses Wachovia, has problems with them. They will have to answer to the Almighty Lord one day for their greed.

WACHOVIA ARE RIPP-OFF ARTISTS WHO MAKE THEIR MONEY BY SCREWING THEIR CUSTOMERS

I also have been screwed many, many, many times by Wachovia charging double overdraft fees for one item because I used the "credit card" as opposed to bouncing a check! So, they don't charge you just for insufficient fees, they also charge an additional $35.00 for using the credit card!!! How this is legal I have no idea!! I have also had items that were held by the bank just so they can charge a fee for an overdraft!! They hold onto refunds you are due, in their "pending" accounts online it appears that the money is already spoken for, yet they charge you overdraft fees anyway! I'm so sick of Wachovia being able to get away with ripping off their customers this way!! It's not right!